May Day of Action: Over 2000 People Take to the Streets!

On May 2, 2009, over 2000 community activists, migrants and allies took to the streets.

We occupied the Yonge and Dundas intersection in the heart of downtown Toronto to make visible the non-status people that this sweatshop city wants to hide away.

We dropped 50 foot banners that read 'No One Is Illegal' and 'Stop the Raids' to make clear that migrants, with or without status, working people and the poor will not be criminalized.

We went to the gates of City Hall dropping massive banners at its doors to insist that Toronto, Ontario and Canada cannot ignore us.

School by school, college by college, hospital by hospital, shelter by shelter, food bank by food bank - one after the other we are going to liberate our homes, our workplaces and our communities. We will make them sanctuaries for all residents. If the powerful few will not let us in to their house of decisions, we will change the decisions where they are put in to practice.

If divided in to small communities and single-interest groups we are powerless in the face of organized attack. When united with clear demands, we know that we can fight back and win.

No One Is Illegal-Toronto urges all people to imagine a sanctuary city and to continue the process of building it - a city that does not participate in war and occupation, a city that does not detain and deport people, a city without 'disposable' labour, a green city with good jobs, a city that is not racist, not sexist or homophobic, not ableist and not anti-poor.

In the year ahead, we look to launch the Stop the Raids! Campaign (June 6), bar immigration enforcement from all anti-violence against women spaces, mobilize to get access to post-secondary education and health care, organize against the 2010 Winter Olympics (Feb 2010) and the G8 Leaders Summit (Jun 2010), fight in defense of indigenous sovereignty and build towards a Day of Action on May 1, 2010. Join us!